An Abecedary to color: H

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A few weeks ago, with the F page, we talked about the Mauve Decade of the 1890s and its letter forms; I just can't resist adding a second installment.  Spoiler: it wasn't only about mauve.  

There’s always more you can say about Art Nouveau, and more of its characteristics to re-discover.  It permeated fashion, art, architecture, and typography for a generation.  Its pale colors, its drooping line, and its pose of blasé fatigue were so fundamental to the larger Aesthetic Movement that they were soon ripe for satire.  In Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta Patience, a pretentious character based on Oscar Wilde describes himself: 


“A pallid and thin young man,
A haggard and lank young man,
A greenery-yallery, Grosvenor Gallery,
Foot-in-the-grave young man!”

Note on the poster design at right; Art Nouveau's languid line even manages to take the rigor out of classical Roman capitals.  

Here is an H colored in pale verdigris and yellow.  Try your own color choices versions.